Richard Bruton
Ceist:42 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for the Marine the steps, if any, he will take to deal with the alarming reduction of fish stocks in the Irish Sea; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Irish Sea Fish Stocks.
Seán Barrett
Ceist:52 Mr. Barrett asked the Minister for the Marine the steps, if any, he will take to deal with the alarming reduction of fish stocks in the Irish Sea; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Mary Flaherty
Ceist:53 Miss Flaherty asked the Minister for the Marine the steps, if any, he will take to deal with the alarming reduction of fish stocks in the Irish Sea; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 42, 52 and 53 together.
While I would accept that fish stocks in the Irish Sea are seriously depleted, I can assure the Deputy that the need to address this problem is being given a high priority. Since late 1991 my Department has been engaged in discussions with the UK fishery authorities on the introduction of conservation measures to safeguard and regenerate those stocks in order to preserve a sustainable livelihood for the fishermen who fish in those waters.
Most recently both the Irish and UK authorities have introduced a requirement that all prawn trawls must have a square mesh panel which allows immature white fish that had previously been caught up in such gear to swim through. This will eliminate discards in the prawn fishery which for the Irish fleet alone, were estimated to be of the order of 5,000 tonnes annually. In addition, the Irish and UK authorities have retained a minimum landing size for Irish Sea Whiting 17 per cent above the EC approved norm of 23 cm. These measures will help to ensure that young fish survive to spawn.
Illegal nets constitute a major abuse of fish stocks and in an effort to further combat this threat the Department is urgently drafting legislation which will help the Department's enforcement officers to make accurate measurements of nets on land rather than only at sea, as is currently the case.
As a further step, I recently received the approval of the Government for draft legislation to increase and extend the powers of sea fishery protection officers which will enable them to seek the confiscation of illegal nets irrespective of whether they are found on board a vessel or ashore. In addition over the past year the Department has more than doubled the number of fishery protection officers based on the east coast. The draft legislation which I plan to introduce early next year will also increase the prospect that the vessels of persistent offenders may be confiscated by the Courts.
These deterrents combined with the other conservation measures, either planned or already in place, will help to address the ongoing problem of fish stocks both in the Irish Sea and in other Irish waters. While it will take some considerable time for stocks to regenerate both I and the Department are determined to ensure that the Irish Sea fishery will not be destroyed by reckless exploitation of stocks.